Cable Confusion!

[SteveR750]

Hmm, it was all going so well...

Just for fun I swapped out the chord silver anniversary cables with some basic QED+ cable. The latter has thicker gauge wire, though I'm sure both are more than adequate given I'm not using it to heat the room. Part of the logic was that I could run much shorter cables as the speakers are now equidistant from the amp, so 1.5m lengths are sufficient, compared to the 5m of the Chord cable, which I'm reluctant to butcher, just in case in the future...

I also fashioned some new cable jumpers using the same wire, repalcing some random massive things I acquired from ebay a few years ago (probably silver breed or whatever his name was from a few years ago).

And so, well the sound isn't as likeable. Maybe, it's hard to tell, but instead of being immediatly wowed I winced a little; but maybe the volume was much louder, certainly the tracks were different, so spent a while going back to listen to more familiar tracks that I have rediscovered with the Hegel in the last few days. I'm absolutely not sure if there is or is not any tiny difference, and if there is, is it more transparent or coloured? Without having the band, with the instruments in the room with me for a before and after comparison I'll never know. Either way, it's such a hassle to swap cables about that they are staying, it still sounds sublime. right, I really must go and change my kettle lead for an alpha gold IC lead, as the coffee tastes sooo much better with properly boiled water

 

[JoelSim]

Doesn't surprise me Steve. The SA is a good cable, having said that I prefer the Revelation. It gives the same level of detail but is a little weightier tonally which to me adds warmth.

Then again I settled on Kimber 8TC.

 

[BenLaw]

Doesn't surprise me Steve. The SA is a good cable, having said that I prefer the Revelation. It gives the same level of detail but is a little weightier tonally which to me adds warmth.

Then again I settled on Kimber 8TC.

Glad to see you deleted the bit where you said he clearly heard a difference!

 

[SteveR750]

SA cables back in use, albeit at half the original length. The excessive sibilance on Magnolia Electric Co's version of Trouble In Mind is still there, just maye a tiny bit less painful.

 

[Vladimir]

Less silver in the electrons path. Duh!

 

[SteveR750]

Indeed, as the silver electrons are far slower (and less bright) than their copper counterparts. Except there's no silver in the SA cable, it's, er copper. And the screen is just a silver coloured plastic, not connected to anything. It's got nice thick sheathing though, just to make you feel like you've got your money's worth I suppose.

 

[JoelSim]

Doesn't surprise me Steve. The SA is a good cable, having said that I prefer the Revelation. It gives the same level of detail but is a little weightier tonally which to me adds warmth.

Then again I settled on Kimber 8TC.

Glad to see you deleted the bit where you said he clearly heard a difference!

Ha, busted. To be fair though I used to have Silver Anniversary, then replaced it with Revelation, and then one day decided to swap back and found the SA much brighter.

 

[steve_1979]

I like black cables.

 

[SteveR750]

I really really like this:
[*]It neutralises charges that build up around the cables and the insulation
[*]It provides a very wide band and deep conditioning into the conductor core, which produces changes in the way signals pass through the metal.
[*]It ultrasonically conditions the surface of the conductors.[/list]
If only I'd known about this "deep conditioning" earlier...:/

 

[steve_1979]

I really really like this:

• It neutralises charges that build up around the cables and the insulation
• It provides a very wide band and deep conditioning into the conductor core, which produces changes in the way signals pass through the metal.
• It ultrasonically conditions the surface of the conductors.

If only I'd known about this "deep conditioning" earlier...:/

You forgot the colour. That makes a big difference too.

 

[SteveR750]

Shh. I'm halfway through wrapping my B&Q ring main cable with discarded chewing gum foil wrapper, as I cut up the silver screen too short

 

[Vladimir]

Indeed, as the silver electrons are far slower (and less bright) than their copper counterparts. Except there's no silver in the SA cable, it's, er copper. And the screen is just a silver coloured plastic, not connected to anything. It's got nice thick sheathing though, just to make you feel like you've got your money's worth I suppose.

Aha! But Kimber in their R&D determined that coloring the cable dielectric influences cable conductivity, introducing EMI deviations due to metals in used paint. Naturally they started making the Kimber 8TC with clear jackets for a less colored sound.

Therefore, silver jacket and silver plated are essentially the same, sound wise.

 

[Vladimir]

 

[SteveR750]

Wrong colour! Got to be spearmint, the minty freshness aids propagation delay doncha know.

 

[ID.]

It's OK. I swapped my fancy coax cable out and replaced it with the thin, free one that came with the DAC/headphone amp, and I thought the free one sounded better. Clearer, notes more defined. Sharper leading edge. Like a very thin vale made of cheap tissue paper had been lifted. Tried swapping them in and out a few times to confirm. Not brave enough to get my wife to swap them (or not) with me blindfolded *fool*

Maybe I'd better check that I've got the cables both running in the correct direction

 

[drummerman]

SteveR750, I'm not sure if you're serious or not but I have certainly found cables to make a difference

 

[ID.]

Can't answer for Steve, but I'm being serious. Not prepared to rule out basic psychological factors without doing ABX testing, but TBH, who's got time for that?

 

[SteveR750]

I was being serious (in the context that I can't take hi fi per se that seriously, it's a titillating pastime after all). I cannot hear any difference in the speaker cables that I own, or none that is significant enough to warrant thinking too much, and worse spending too much on them.

There's a bit of interesting science around them, skin effect, and Litz but most cables seem to be multi-strand (so effectively one big conductor). It might explain why cable changes affect HF rather than LF perception.

Personally, I just choose to spend my money on something else.

 

[TrevC]

I was being serious (in the context that I can't take hi fi per se that seriously, it's a titillating pastime after all). I cannot hear any difference in the speaker cables that I own, or none that is significant enough to warrant thinking too much, and worse spending too much on them.

There's a bit of interesting science around them, skin effect, and Litz but most cables seem to be multi-strand (so effectively one big conductor). It might explain why cable changes affect HF rather than LF perception.

Personally, I just choose to spend my money on something else.

Skin effect doesn't really apply at audio. If a manufacturer of cables mentions it buy somewhere else. if you want fit and forget cables use thick copper multistranded types of conventional construction.

Please kill the word verification.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

SteveR, you have a nice quality system, so I'm curious.

What's the point of this thread exactly?

 

[steve_1979]

It's OK. I swapped my fancy coax cable out and replaced it with the thin, free one that came with the DAC/headphone amp, and I thought the free one sounded better. Clearer, notes more defined. Sharper leading edge. Like a very thin vale made of cheap tissue paper had been lifted. Tried swapping them in and out a few times to confirm. Not brave enough to get my wife to swap them (or not) with me blindfolded *fool*

Maybe I'd better check that I've got the cables both running in the correct direction

I prefer my speaker vales to be made out of expensive audiophile tissue paper. They sound much better than the cheap ones that come as standard.

 

[SteveR750]

SteveR, you have a nice quality system, so I'm curious.

What's the point of this thread exactly?

Whatever you choose to take from it, or contribute.

 

[Waxy]

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To be honest, we are actually a long established company making a desperate last attempt to boost sales before the auditors come knocking in May. Nobody has really bought our products since 1906.

* the signal may be left-channel or right-channel biased depending on the time of day. Or the weather.

 

[davedotco]

It's OK. I swapped my fancy coax cable out and replaced it with the thin, free one that came with the DAC/headphone amp, and I thought the free one sounded better. Clearer, notes more defined. Sharper leading edge. Like a very thin vale made of cheap tissue paper had been lifted. Tried swapping them in and out a few times to confirm. Not brave enough to get my wife to swap them (or not) with me blindfolded *fool*

Maybe I'd better check that I've got the cables both running in the correct direction

I prefer my speaker vales to be made out of expensive audiophile tissue paper. They sound much better than the cheap ones that come as standard.

Some years ago I recall the Yamaha NS10 being the favoured (passive) nearfield studio monitor.

Given the levels that it was used at, the tweeter could sound rather harsh, the solution being to cover it with a layer of tissue paper.

Or, 2 or 3, this became a topic of hot debate among studio professionals. I believe the thickness even the brand of tissue became a topic of some debate. It became essential, for a studio setting out its 'credentials', to specify the 'correct' tissue used to optimise their NS10s.

This is not a joke, this is real, just to prove that not all audio industry "nut jobs" are in the hi-fi business.

 

[CnoEvil]

Personally, I like Cliché Cables, as they make my system sound the same as those of everyone else.